WALL•E (character)

From Pixar Wiki


Performer:	Ben Burtt
Appeared in:	WALL•E Your Friend the Rat

WALL•E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth class) is a Robotic Worker and the main character of WALL•E. He is a trash compacting robot built in 2105 by the Buy n Large megacorporation.

History

After all the humans leave Earth aboard a giant spaceship called the Axiom, millions of the robots are left behind to clean up the dirty planet. In the year 2110, however, rising toxicity levels make life unsustainable and the Buy n Large officials decide humanity can never return. They evacuate the planet and shut down all the WALL•E robots, somehow missing one. WALL•E spends the next 700 years still hard at work, blissfully unaware of the futility of his situation. In he meantime he befriends a cockroach (who he names Hal). Though he continues obeying his directive to compact trash, as he develops curiosity, he begins saving odds and ends that fascinate him. He hides out from sandstorms and rain in his truck, spending his time sorting his collection, the pride of which is an old VHS copy of the musical Hello, Dolly!.

One day after work, he finds a mysterious red thing that zips away from him. He follows, not noticing that there are several others behind him. Once the red thing stops, he tries to grab it, but it turns out to be a light from a massive ship coming down on him. He narrowly escapes by digging a hole into the ground to hide in. Once the ship lands, it deposits EVE, a robot sent back to Earth to evaluate the soil to check for signs of ongoing photosynthesis, proof that life is sustainable again. WALL•E is fascinated with this new robot, and soon falls in love with her, wishing to hold her hand like he'd seen done in his movie. He shows her a plant he had found earlier, which she immediately takes and stores in her cavity before going into standby mode. Alarmed, WALL•E tries to wake her inert body but fails, so for the next several days, he protects EVE, taking her out on "dates". Eventually he gives up on her awakening and attempts to return to work, but finds he cannot focus on his directive; EVE is all he cares about.

When her ship returns to pick her up, he clings to its hull as it travels through space to the Axiom. Once there, in a cat-and-mouse chase, he pursues the cart carrying EVE to the bridge, followed by the cleaner bot M-O who is determined to clean WALL•E of foreign contaminants. On reaching the bridge, WALL•E hides from sight but eventually gets discovered by EVE, then Captain McCrea. EVE, who discovers the plant to be missing, presumes WALL•E to be the thief. They are then both sent to maintenance. WALL•E thinks the diagnostics to be hurting her and breaks out to try and help her, accidentally blasting the power console with her gun arm and freeing other malfunctioning robots. After a chase through the Axiom's halls evading security, EVE tries to send WALL•E home in an escape pod, but he refuses to leave her. They hide when GO-4 arrives and places the missing plant in the pod. WALL•E tries to retrieve it only for the pod to be jettisoned into space, set to self-destruct. Storing the plant in his chest and grabbing a fire extinguisher, he escapes the pod just before it explodes. EVE is so grateful he saved the plant that she kisses him, then they share a space dance before re-entering the Axiom.

She tells him to stay put near the pool while she goes up the garbage chute to deliver the plant to Captain McCrea. But WALL•E gets fed up with waiting and climbs up the chute, in the process saving the plant from falling. But he is electrocuted by Auto and sent down to the garbage depot, along with EVE. They are compacted with other garbage by WALL•E's bigger counterparts, the WALL•As. But they are prevented from being sucked into the vacuum thanks to M-O and the WALL•As shutting the airlock. EVE, who had witnessed her security files of WALL•E protecting her, changes her directive to caring for him. But his motherboard is damaged beyond repair and his replacements are halfway across the galaxy, so she agrees to fulfill her original directive if only to get him home. With the Captain's guidance, they make their way to the holodetector, which, when inserted with a plant, will send the Axiom back to Earth. But Auto, still obeying a 700-year-old directive issued by Buy n Large CEO Shelby Forthright, is determined to stop them by tilting the ship and closing the holodetector for good. WALL•E wedges himself underneath to keep it from shutting and gets crushed. The Captain shuts down Auto, and with the help of other robots and humans, EVE gets the plant to the holodector, initiating a hyperjump straight to Earth.

As soon as they land, EVE takes WALL•E to his truck, repairs him, and recharges him. WALL•E wakes back up, but his memory is wiped clean and he reverts to his original programming and directive, oblivious to EVE, Hal, and his collection. EVE attempts to help him remember, but when all her efforts fail, she sadly holds his hand like he had wanted and gives him a "kiss". This reboots his memory and WALL•E is surprised upon waking up to see that they are holding hands. WALL•E and EVE help the Captain and Axiom passengers start a new life on Earth, and they spend the rest of their lives together.

Personality

Because WALL•E has been alone for 700 years he has developed "a little glitch", a personality. He has become very curious and he keeps anything interesting he can find. Although still obediently following his directive, WALL•E can get distracted, collecting the trash rather than compacting it. His most prized possession, Hello, Dolly!, teaches him how to hold hands, which he considers the way to say "I love you." Also he has become very lonely, having nobody but Hal as company, and is beginning to wonder whether there is more to life than his directive. So when he meets EVE, he quickly falls in love with her. WALL•E is very protective of EVE. When she shuts down after getting the plant, WALL•E protects her from the weather. At the repair center he mistakes that the equipment there as trying to hurt her and rushes to her aid. WALL•E's friendly demeanor has an effect on the other robots and humans he meets. For instance, he causes M-O to act on his own and follow WALL•E trying to clean him, and he teaches TYP-E how to wave good bye. Most importantly he is instrumental in EVE's growth and development, from rigidly following her programming to learning how to love him in return.

Technology

WALL•E possesses many interesting devices to help him fulfill his directive. He has a solar-powered Regeneration unit as his power source. He has twin hydraulic arm shovels, treads, and his front opens up in which he gathers and compresses trash. He also possesses a recorder which he uses to record songs from the Hello, Dolly!. WALL•E's eyes are camera lens and between them he has a laser, which he typically uses to cut large pieces of trash into manageable pieces.

Trivia

The sound that is heard when WALL•E's power is regenerated is the same sound that is heard when an Apple computer is turned on.